Case Updates – O Family (Dec 15 – 2011)

This is an account of what has been done regarding the O Family who experienced a tragedy and were unable to access services to secure and income or obtain medical support.

They are currently awaiting the results of various test (Mrs. O) and psychiatric evaluations in order to complete their application for ODSP.
They have been granted the maximum allowable benefits from OW and the caseworker has convinced her superiors to pay half of the arrears settlement.
The Ontario Works caseworkers have expressed their utmost respect and appreciation for NISA’s help in this case and have expressed intentions to contact us if similar ‘extreme hardship’ cases present themselves. (The caseworker was reluctant to help them in the beginning because she assumed they were trying to defraud the government because she didn’t believe they were as uninformed as they were.)
I represented them at their eviction hearing in court on Monday and was able to get the total arrears reduced by $469, including the court costs, parking fees, and late or NSF charges.
Minto apologized for how they treated the family after their accident and expressed intention to be more sensitive and to contact us if any problems arise in the future.
All of the rent arrears and overdue bills have been paid.
Their rent is reduced by $57.69 to $979.31.
They have completed the 1st stage of having a Community Assessment done to assess what their day-to-day and household needs are.
They are receiving budgeting and money management counselling.
A lawyer is looking over their case history and will try to get more money from the insurance company. He will also determine if there is a possible case to pursue a further settlement in court.
CIC has agreed to put their repayment account on hold and to waive their charges if they are permanently disabled.
Arezoo will give orientation and confidentiality training to volunteers who want to provide on-going assistance and transportation.

There are numerous women and families in Ottawa/Gatineau who need help just like the O family. For various reasons they can’t come to the mosque or community centers for help.

Please give generously so we can do the work our community needs.

Jazakallaho khairan
-Umm Nur (ED)

Remember the needy on the 10th of Muharram

Dear Friends,
Asslaamu alaikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh,
On the advent of this sacred month and the auspicious occasion of the 10th of Muharram, when Allah Ta’Ala has promised to multiply every good deed many times over, please remember that there are Muslim women and families near you, in this very city who are struggling to survive.

We need more than $10,000 to help the households here in Ottawa that are in dire need, such as:
A single mother who has lost her job and needs money for rent.
A disabled grandmother who hasn’t been able to pay all of her rent for 3 months.
A family who were involved in a car accident; the father is paralyzed on one side of his body and the mother’s back is also broken; they owe still 4 months rent (we’ve been able to pay one month so far and buy some of their needs, with your help)
Women living in homeless shelters who need a sane, clean place to stay, transportation and other support.

It has been reported from Abd Allah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As (Allah be pleased with him), that “Whoever fasts `Ashura it is as if he has fasted the entire year. And whoever gives charity this day it is like the charity of an entire year.”
Please give generously to NISA Canada so that we can all fulfill our duty to Allah by caring for our local women and children, and reap the blessings of Ashura in this world and the Next.

Send your donation by email (nisacanada@gmail.com) or donate by Paypal on our website or call 613-SISTERS and we will come to you to pick up your cash or cheque donation.

Jazakumullah Khair

NISA Canada

NISA Canada’s 1st General Meet Statement

The truth and beauty of our blessed deen has been tarnished, not only by people who want to spread rancour and falsehood, but also by our actions and negligence.

We have to acknowledge the elephant in the room before it destroys everything we’re trying to do. Our bad image is not just because of negative media, hostile neighbours and a toxic Internet environment. We have a bad image because we have neglected to apply the principles of Islam and to obey the Commands of Allah in our daily lives and in our communities.

What examples of love, peace and charity do we have to show in Ottawa? Even though we are the largest, wealthiest “practicing” religious group in this city, our Christian friends still have an apparent monopoly on charity. Everybody on this planet knows Muslims pray 5 times a day but do our non-Muslim neighbours know that charity is also a daily obligation on us?

The National Islamic Sisters’ Association has established a non-profit organization that will be dedicated to providing for the social, educational and spiritual needs of all Muslim women, especially those among us for whom no services have been provided or even planned, like single Muslim women, converts and 1st generation Muslims.

NISA Canada is an organization dedicated exclusively to raising funds and facilitating charity, but we’re employing a novel approach. We’re running our charitable organization like a business, and hoping to establish our women’s center, offer housing subsidies, debt relief and micro loans and offer emergency aid in a uniquely “feminine” way.

We plan to rent or buy at least 5 centers in and around Ottawa. We aim to focus on priorities that effect local women, and duplicate what we do in Ottawa in major cities and towns all over Canada.

InshaAllah, our centers will be 5, 6 or even more bedroom houses. We’re not talking about some run-down hovel. We’re talking about places of beauty and dignity that reflect who we are. Some of the houses will have granny-suites or basement apartments or be duplexes or triplexes. Some of our centers will be set up like bed & breakfasts and double as guest facilities, meeting places, party spaces, to hold weddings, walimas, hospices to recuperate after child birth or illness, classrooms to teach or attend classes or just be a place where a sister can go and hang out and relax….A place of our own. Other centers will be for emergency shelter, administrative offices, and subsidized housing.

We will need to support each other, complement each other and create a non-competitive, sisterly atmosphere in this city.

We’ve been doing fund raising for the last few months just to get ourselves started and to address the relatively minor emergencies we’ve have been confronted with. We’ve sold dinners, solicited donations and now we’re offering these beautiful posters for you and your groups to sell to raise funds.
We plan to hold kite competitions, excursions, sewing, cooking and art classes and lots of other fun activities to raise funds. These goals can be realized by all of these creative and enterprising ventures and a financial base of 1000 people donating (a minimum) of $10 per month. This is really not a lot and we know all of us together can make these small efforts multiply in effectiveness and Baraka, inshaa Allah.

Anyone who wants to help can simply join the effort by getting 10 people or more to donate $10 or more per month by way of bank draft (automatic debit). We will employ all of our skill and creativity to make that $10 grow into millions, inshaa Allah.

Please fill out the brochure with your banking or credit card information and separate it along the fold. Keep the 1st half and pass the 2nd half to us. Your first debit will be taken at the beginning of the next month.

May Allah bless you for your efforts!

Activist meet was a success Alhumdulillah!

No matter how many times I encounter it, I never cease to be amazed at the kindness and generosity of Muslims. At the Activist Muslim Women’s Potluck Meet and Greet that the National Islamic Sisters’ Association of Canada held on July 10, 2011, Muslim women came with their delicious food, ideals and generosity to hear for the first time the mission of NISA Canada and show their interest and support.

It shouldn’t surprise me; the mission of NISA Canada is very succinct and pure: to collect and earn money to give help, support and comfort to our Muslim sisters when they are in need.

The proposed NISA Center was also readily received and the attendees quickly grasped the concept of creating enterprises, like the women’s center, to simultaneously raise funds and provide a place for emergencies, administration, relaxation, education and fun. The excitement, enthusiasm and the happiness was palpable. Many sisters expressed, “Finally, we can have a place of our own. “

InshaAllah, we will have to extend our efforts to maintain this momentum and translate all the love and sincere sentiment into one clear, concise action: Donate Fisabilillah.

Posters Fundraising for NISA Canada

NISA Canada is a new non profit organization established (by women for women) to facilitate the practice of the charitable teachings of Islam in our local community.

Like every organization, we too have a mission for the present, which is to:

Alleviate suffering and hardships faced by hundreds of our sisters,
to provide them shelter from distress and humiliation,
to offer relief from frustration and desperation through proper care & housing, reform, micro-loans, self-help training, assistance and much more InshaAllah

We also have a vision for the future which is, as we grow, to extend acts of charity and relief work to non- Muslims as well, and to duplicate this service in every community across Canada, InshaAllah.

Islam has taught us to be charitable to one and all, making no distinction based on religion, class or ethnicity.

Please join us on Facebook for more updates. We are a new organization and we hope Allah Azzwajall will send us His sincere slaves to help us achieve the goals of the organization, InshaAllah.

The Posters with ISLAMIC WORDS OF WISDOM will greatly help in reminding us of our purpose as Muslims, InshaAllah.

Please feel free to ask any further questions, (use the contact us form) and share this with brothers & sisters who might be interested in joining us.

JazakAllah khair!

NISA Canada – Bismillah, we have just started!

NISA Canada has been formed with the sole objective to give charity: To alleviate suffering and hardship, shelter from distress and humiliation, provide relief from frustration and desperation. How will we do that when we all are just one pay cheque away from the poverty we’re trying to relieve?

Again, just as Salat is due on us every day and in every condition, so is Sadaqa.

We can’t use our financial situation as an excuse not to give charity, just as we can’t give our emotional state as an excuse not to make our prayer. If a sister said, “I can’t pray because I’m so upset with (fill in the blank).” We would give her a lecture and never just say, “Oh, I understand, me too.” We would tell her there are no excuses. We would remind her that her emotional state is just a temporary test and we will, we have to, get over it and do what Allahu subhana wa ta’Ala commands.

Just as Salat is due on us every day and in every condition, so is Sadaqa.

Don’t let yourself or your sisters or brothers forget that. And just as Allah has made prayer easy, Sadaqa is even easier, because the more you give, the more you will receive, in this world and the next.